Sickly Sweet

Trouble

As Sophie began to sing the first note, her nerves jittered in her stomach. She managed a clear and cut "who" before stopping mid-verse and gasping.

What was once a plush and well-lighted theatre filled with a smiling audience had transformed into a nightmare. Sophie's jaw dropped as her sweet brown eyes scanned the havoc.

Beautiful and soft velvety seats had altered to thrones made of... Sophie winced. Was that really what she thought it was? Placed in neat rows and divided in the center were over 600 chairs of bone. The aisle was no longer a matching plush carpet; dirt splattered with red swallowed the legs of the newly transformed seats.

Her eyes welled with tears as she spotted her own family among the devilish throng. Everyone in the audience had morphed into some form of a beast; there was a plump, scaly green, turquoise spiked Mrs. Alonso smiling dementedly next to a crude form of Sophie's foster father.

Briel was there too, with swirling red eyes and a body of stone. The only way Sophie could recognize them was by determining their shoes. Somehow, during the transformation, Briel remained in her sleek black flats with a pink strap and Mr. Alonso in his practical Sunday sandals, a leathered brown with brass buckles.

Though the aisle lights had disappeared, bright white rays bored into Sophie's skull and she curled into a ball, already unable to see anymore. Taking steady breaths, she eventually lost it and began sobbing. She burrowed harder and shut her eyes tightly, but nothing could block out the insistent tapping on her left shoulder blade.

Sophie's heart stopped and she slowly uncurled herself. She brought her face up to the roof and cautiously opened her eyes.

Up where the lights were was a dangling spider, inches from her face. Its eight legs were shiny and had pointy ends to them. Sophie soon realized that they were knives. She tried to scream but nothing came out. It were as if she were choking on air, Sophie was petrified and forced to breathe through her nose.

The spider slowly descended and she winced as the prick of its legs drove hard into her scalp. But it didn't stop there. The abnormal creature kept sliding down until Sophie was forced out of petrifaction. The pain caused her body to convulse and she fell to the floor, wishing she were dead.

It would be much better if she were dead. If she were dead, nothing would happen. Just... Peace. Unless there was a heaven. Then, it would be much better than life on Earth ever could be. But then again, if there was a heaven, there was also a hell. Was being weird a sin? Sophie sure hoped not. Otherwise, she would be-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the arachnid plunging into Sophie's skull one last time. She let out a bellow of pain. A fire had erupted inside of her that was burning fast and bright. She supplied plenty of tears to quench it, but the flames persisted. She was in complete agony. Nothing could save her now...

And then the fire went out. Her eyes glazed over and thoughts ceased. Suddenly, the pain stopped. Sophie felt the spider slowly climb out of her head and she let out a deep sigh. Finally. Death had come, and this pain was no more.

But unfortunately for Sophie, that wasn't the case. She soon felt herself snap back to reality, and her eyes skimmed out into the crowd.

There was no more pain. The sensation had disappeared. Though thoughts were as sharp as ever before. Had she simply imagined the whole thing?

No.

She couldn't have imagined the torture because, sitting quietly on their thrones were the demonic audience members, smiling crookedly. They cheered and some gave her a standing ovation. Some hissed at her in appreciation while others threw wilted roses.

Sophie didn't quite know how to feel. Should she be relieved the pain was over? But then, as a hush fell over the twisted crowd and she turned to face the abortion behind her, she knew just how to feel.

Scared.

(A/N)

Okay so hey guys! I hope you liked this morbid chapter. I've decided not to copy it from my book directly that I have written previously because I just have so many new ideas! I know this and the other two chapters were EXTREMELY short, but I have a social life. And I would like to thank Hope and upuliwick for reading this story and still being my friends anyway :)

I'll update soon!

Xoxo

Me